It’s what all business owners want to know – how you can increase profits from your small business! In these tough economic times, it’s even more crucial that small businesses need to diversify. And more importantly, generate extra income from your business.
You might be thinking that you’re already run off your feet trying to keep your business afloat, or you’re making profits but there’s not enough left over to pay your bills at the end of each month. Without dipping into emergency funds or taking high risks, you can boost your business income by using your existing resources and assets. When running a company, there are always things that you can do better, and here’s some ideas how you can make more money from your business.
1. Involve your customers
Sounds obvious, right? But when was the last time you asked your customers about what benefits they have about your product or service? A good place to start is to launch a customer survey and listen to what their opinions are. If you haven’t already set up email marketing, then now’s the time to capitalise on this marketing technique. In addition to reaching out to your customers through social media, newsletters can encourage customers to engage with your business and improve sales performance.
Many customers don’t have the time to leave reviews but this is when you should send follow up emails asking them to write a review of your business. Even if a customer leaves a negative review, it means you can utilise their feedback to see where your business can make improvements. When they write something positive, you know you’re on the right track, and new customers can see for themselves that you’re a trusted business.
2. Reassess sales strategies
Prior to adapting any sales strategies, you should carefully analyse how you generate leads, their conversion rates and how they equate into sales, and subsequently, profit margins. Do you know, for example, where your existing customers come from? What is your customer profile? If you don’t know these answers, you can’t sell your products/services with them in mind. This key information should have been previously incorporated into marketing and your initial business plan.
When you aim to increase sales to existing buyers, you have to ensure you’re treating those clients well. Although growing a business demands attracting new customers, taking care of your loyal customers is key to improve sales. Your current customers are already converts to your products so suggest an additional product for a lower price after they’ve bought something from you, for example. As they already know your products or services, they’re much more likely to buy more of what you have to offer.
3. Use what you already have
Everything from your products to your intellectual property may be used to generate extra income from your business. Take a look at what your business already has and see if there are ways to use what you have right in front of you. For example, your website is one way of producing a passive income without spending much time or money to set up. You can do this via pay per click advertising or affiliate marketing whereby you receive commission from selling other products. Alternatively, consider introducing a Members Area for subscriptions so customers have exclusive access to certain products, services or merchandise.
4. Get your brand noticed…
Before you can even sell your products or services, you need to let people know you exist! Branding is vital to giving a business more exposure and getting people to trust what your business is about. Do you have an attractive logo design, for instance? Can you create marketing products such as stationery, flyers and even mugs to get your brand noticed? You could also sponsor a local enterprise to show you care about your local community. There are literally hundreds of ways for people to recognise your business – start writing a list today!
…and Network
Branding and networking go hand in hand in business so now that you have restructured your branding, it’s time to network. Anything from going to industry-related conferences to joining online groups can all help build business relationships. Another option is to team up with influencers who have something in common with your business. Involve them with something to do with your business. For instance, an interview for the blog, to make more connections and generate extra income from your business.
5. Diversify your business
To diversify a range of services or products doesn’t necessarily mean taking big risks or spreading your business model too thin. In fact, by not offering multiple products/services, you could be curtailing your business growth by only marketing to a niche clientele. Consider packaging with set prices or marketing ‘bundles’ of collective items that complement each other. Similarly, create new items that add value to existing products/services. Finally, if you’re running a small business, there must be something you’re an expert in so you can increase profits from your small business. Therefore, consider designing courses, becoming a consultant or creating Ebooks to share your knowledge.
Make the Decision to Increase Profits From Your Small Business
Whether you decide to take the passive income route or expand your business through products/services, the sooner you take action, the quicker you’ll increase your business income. In order to survive economic struggles and recession proof your business, considering multiple income streams will help you get through it.
